Stephen Spinelli, Jr. began his entrepreneurial career two years after graduating from Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College) in 1977 with a B.A. in economics. He co-founded Jiffy Lube International, Inc. in 1979. The Jiffy Lube team believed that rapid growth was essential to success in the newly created "quick lube" business and focused their efforts on franchising. Three years later, Spinelli left the founding management team to become a franchisee. He remained a director of the company. Ultimately, he became Jiffy Lube's largest franchisee, with stores in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York. Thirteen years after founding Jiffy Lube, Spinelli sold his founding shares in the franchiser and his franchised stores to pursue a career in academia.

Moving to England in 1992, Spinelli earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of London's Imperial College, studying with a world-renowned scholar and professor, Sue Birley, and writing his dissertation on the franchiser-franchisee relationship. He then taught at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, where he currently serves as director of the Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship and chair of the entrepreneurship division.

Professor Spinelli is the creator of Babson's M.B.A. course in franchising. He has published several academic studies and written a number of teaching cases on the subject. His newest book, Franchising: Pathway to Wealth Creation, was co-authored by Dr. Birley and Dunkin Donuts entrepreneur Robert Rosenberg and published by Prentice Hall-Financial Times. He earned his M.B.A. from Babson in 1991.

[From McGraw-Hill] Timmons & Spinelli's, New Venture Creation: Entrepreneurship For The 21st Century, 6/e is a perforated paperback text that covers the process of getting a new venture started, growing the venture, successfully harvesting it and starting again. Through text, case studies, and hands-on exercises, the book guides students in discovering the concepts of entrepreneurship and the competencies, skills, know-how and experience that are sufficient to pursue different entrepreneurial opportunities. The authors recognize that there is no substitute for actually starting a company, but believe that it is possible to expose students to many of the vital issues and immerse them in key learning experiences.